Monteverdi and Seconda Prattica

In the exchanges with Artusi, both Monteverdi and his brother Giulio Cesare refer to a second, modern method of composition, the seconda prattica,distinguished from the traditional prima pratticaas taught by Zarlino.1 As Giulio Cesare defined it, the guiding principle of the seconda pratticawas that the words should govern the music; this justified the freer dissonance treatment that the reactionary Artusi attacked. The seconda pratticawas viewed as a resurrection of the principles of music as taught by classical antiquity, rediscovered by Peri, Wert, and Monteverdi himself, among others. This modern approach is clearly evident for the first time in the third book of madrigals (1592), with its extensive use of dissonance and attention to individual words. Also of importance is the invention Monteverdi defined as stile concitato,the use of short notes repeated on a single pitch (generally played by string instruments) to express anger and warfare.

Monteverdi was perhaps the first composer to envision opera as a drama in music, a depiction of human psychology; this approach is clearly evident from his correspondence regarding the opera La finta pazza Licori.The great collection of sacred music published in 1610 includes a Mass written in the prima pratticaas well as vesper Psalms and motets written in a more modern style.